Crookshank Next in Line
By Laurel McFadden
Staff Writer

Continuing the cycle of campus renovations, Crookshank is scheduled for remodeling during the next academic year. Construction will begin around July 7, and is planned for completion sometime in the summer of 2004.

The Office of Campus Planning evaluates campus buildings throughout the year and addresses buildings needing the most work. Tony Ichsan, the Assistant Director of Campus Planning and Maintenance, said that the coming renovations are part of the college's efforts to keep up with the "life cycle of the building; we try to capture about 12 years between major reconstructions." For Crookshank, it has become a matter of efficiency to put the money into renovations rather than continual smaller improvements.

The work planned for the next year will include new heating, electricity, technology systems, and plumbing and lightings fixtures. Crookshank is known as one of the oldest buildings on campus, one of the three in the "academic quad" also including Pearsons and Mason. Ichsan reported that "The work will be mostly infrastructure renovations. Little will be done to the exterior, and the interior will not be gutted like Pearsons. Structural engineers were involved in the planning for some minor wall moving."

Pearsons is currently undergoing renovations, which included a complete gutting of the interior. Crookshank will involve much less work, and no major structural changes are planned. "We mostly work to meet new safety and accessibility standards; the most recent large project done with Crookshank was the addition of handicap ramps in 1976," commented Ichsan. Other recent work includes basic maintenance updates, such as painting and carpeting completed about four years ago.

Despite construction, Pomona works to keep the character integrity of these buildings, which are some of the oldest in the area. While Sumner, dating from approximately 1888, is the oldest building on campus, the three buildings of the Academic Quad were completed from 1921-1922.

While undergoing renovations, classes usually conducted in Crookshank will be spread out through the other academic buildings. English and Classics faculty will move into the Smith Campus Center basement, taking the place of their colleagues who will be moving back into a renovated Pearsons. Following the completion of the project, Crookshank will once again house the English and Classics departments. Mason Hall is the next and final building on the academic quad schedule for renovation; it should be completed in 2006.